Limited access to finance remains a major obstacle for young agribusinesses in Africa, with conventional collateral often preventing viable businesses from securing loans.
The issue was discussed at the Africa Food Systems Forum 2026 in Kigali during a session on investment programmes for youth and women. Speakers called for lenders to consider business performance, financial records, market contracts and production plans when assessing borrowers.
Martin Fregene, Director of Agriculture and Agro-Industry at the African Development Bank, said agricultural finance should be designed around the specific challenges faced by young businesses, including limited collateral and weak financial records.
He pointed to partial credit guarantees, patient capital and structured debt as ways to reduce risks for commercial lenders.
Elijah Mwashayenyi of the East-West Seed Knowledge Transfer Foundation said better record keeping and business planning can also improve farmers’ access to credit. He cited a Uganda financing model in which trained and certified farmers recorded a 97% loan repayment rate, compared with higher defaults among untrained farmers.
Other speakers highlighted farm aggregation as another way to reduce lending risks by allowing financial institutions to finance organised groups of farmers rather than individual smallholders.
The discussions at the forum reflected a broader push to make agribusiness finance more accessible to young entrepreneurs and support the growth of Africa’s food systems.
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